When you upload a design to Twibbonize, you're the one publishing it. That means you need the right to use everything inside it, including every image, video clip, font, logo, song, and person who appears in it. This article explains what that means in practice, where creators most often get caught out, and what happens if a campaign crosses the line.
This is practical guidance, not legal advice. Copyright and privacy law differ from country to country. If a lot is riding on your campaign, such as a brand partnership, a paid promotion, or a political message, talk to a qualified professional in your own country.
Copyright: using other people's work
Copyright protects creative work from the moment it's made. There's no registration step and no copyright notice required. A photo someone posted publicly is still theirs, and so is a drawing, a font, a song, or a piece of video footage.
"I found it on Google" and "it was free to download" aren't permissions. Crediting the author isn't either. Some licenses require credit, but almost none are satisfied by credit alone.
Common problems
What creators upload | Why it's a problem |
A photo or illustration found through a search engine | Search results aren't a license. The image belongs to whoever made it. |
A frame from a film, series, anime, or game | Studio-owned. Fan campaigns are still infringement. |
A cartoon or game character | Protected as artwork, and usually trademarked as well. |
Music or audio in a video design | Recordings carry two separate rights, the recording and the composition. Both need clearance. |
A stock image used outside its license | Many licenses exclude templates, resale, or "editorial use only" contexts. A Twibbon that many people reuse is often outside a basic license. |
A font used without checking its license | Free-for-personal-use fonts are common, but commercial or campaign use often needs a paid license. |
A design someone made for you | Unless your agreement transfers the rights, the designer may still own it. |
Another creator's Twibbon | Reuploading someone else's frame is infringement, even with the text changed. |
A logo of a brand, school, or event | Usually both copyrighted and trademarked. See the trademark section below. |
What is safe to use
Work you made yourself, from scratch
Licensed stock, where you've read the license and your use fits it — save a copy of the license
Public domain work, where copyright has expired or been waived — check the specific work, not the general era
Creative Commons work, following that specific license — watch for NC (no commercial use) and ND (no modifications); putting a photo inside a frame counts as a modification
Work you have written permission for — an email saying yes is worth keeping
Fair use, fair dealing, and similar exceptions exist, but they're narrow, fact-specific, and decided after the fact by a court. Don't build a campaign on the assumption that one applies.
Trademarks: using brands, logos, and names
Copyright and trademarks are different things, and a logo can be protected by both.
Don't use a company, organization, university, or event's name or logo in a way that suggests they're behind your campaign, endorse it, or partner with you, unless they actually do and have said you can. This is the most common problem with campaigns built around a brand, a school, or an event. The design might be entirely your own artwork and still be a problem because of the logo in the corner.
If you're running a campaign for an organization, get their written go-ahead first. If you're running one about an organization, such as a protest or a petition, make it clear that you're not speaking for them.
Privacy and likeness: using people's faces
A person's image is theirs in a way that's separate from who took the photo. You can hold the copyright to a photo and still not be allowed to publish it, because the person in it hasn't agreed.
Get permission before putting an identifiable person in a design. Get it in writing, and be specific about what the campaign is. Permission to appear in a community fundraiser isn't permission to appear in a political campaign.
Take extra care with:
Private individuals. Someone who isn't a public figure has a strong expectation of not being used in promotional material. Friends, colleagues, and strangers in the background all count.
Children. Consent has to come from a parent or guardian, and the bar is higher. Many countries treat images of minors as sensitive data.
Sensitive contexts. Health, religion, ethnicity, sexuality, political affiliation, legal trouble, and grief are areas where publishing someone's photo can cause real harm, even when it's technically permitted.
Public figures. Newsworthiness gives more latitude for commentary and criticism, but not for implying they support you.
People who have died. Ask the family. Some countries protect the likeness of the deceased, and all of them have relatives who will be hurt by a surprise.
Blurring a face, cropping to a silhouette, or using an illustration instead solves most of these problems.
Supporter photos
When supporters join your campaign, they add their own photos to your design. Two things follow from that.
Their photos are theirs. Appearing in your campaign's gallery isn't permission to use their face in your advertising, on your website, in a print flyer, or in a follow-up campaign. If you want to use a supporter's post somewhere else, ask them.
You're accountable for what your campaign encourages. A design that invites people to upload something harmful, like someone else's photo, a private image, or content involving minors, creates a problem across every post in the campaign, not just one. Write your captions and instructions so the obvious way to join is also a safe one.
What happens if a campaign violates these rules
Anyone can report a campaign using the Report this campaign link at the bottom of the campaign page. Rights holders can also contact us directly.
When a report comes in, we review the campaign against our Terms & Conditions. Depending on what we find, we may remove the design, take the whole campaign down, or restrict the account. Repeated infringement can end in permanent removal.
We can't arbitrate ownership disputes, and taking a campaign down isn't a legal ruling. Rights holders can still pursue whatever remedies they have. A takedown doesn't end their claim, and neither does deleting the campaign yourself.
If someone used your work without permission
Report the campaign using the Report this campaign link, and include:
the campaign link
what part of it is yours
proof that it's yours, such as the original file, where you first published it, or your license or registration
how you'd like it resolved
The more precise your report, the faster the review. "This is my photo, here it is on my portfolio dated two years earlier" gets resolved quickly. "Someone stole my design" does not.
What to check before you publish
Every image, clip, and font is mine, licensed, or in the public domain, and I could show that if asked
No logos or brand names imply an endorsement I don't have
Everyone identifiable in the design has agreed to be there, in writing
Any children shown have a parent or guardian's consent
Nothing in the design encourages supporters to upload someone else's photo
The caption doesn't claim a partnership, sponsorship, or approval that doesn't exist
We hope this helps you publish with confidence. If you're unsure whether something in your design is safe to use, it's best to leave it out.